Breakthroughs, Connections, and Collaboration at 17MCM 2025 in Portorož

From 7 to 12 September 2025, nearly 450 scientists, technologists, and industry representatives descended on the Adriatic coast for the 17th Multinational Congress on Microscopy (17MCM), the biennial gathering that spotlights cutting-edge developments in microscopy, fosters interdisciplinary exchange, and strengthens ties among the global imaging community. The meeting was hosted by the Slovene Society for Microscopy, alongside the national microscopy societies of Hungary, Croatia, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Serbia, as well as the European Microscopy Society.

A Rich and Varied Program

The scientific program at 17MCM proved both ambitious and inspiring. Attendees were treated to a series of outstanding keynote lectures, opening new perspectives into frontier microscopy techniques and their transformative applications in both material and life sciences. Alongside these plenaries, the conference offered a rich program with parallel sessions for material and life science researchers that exemplified the breadth and depth of microscopy innovations – from new workflows, instrumentation and methods, to new image analysis tools and discoveries enabled by imaging..

A highlight of the meeting were the poster sessions, which were extremely active and well attended. They offered an informal, energetic setting for rapid-fire exchange of ideas, cross-disciplinary contacts, and direct feedback on research with a particularly large selection of early career researchers showcasing their ideas. The conference also featured a strong industry exhibition, where microscopy vendors and service providers showcased the latest tools, accessories, and imaging platforms.

Euro-BioImaging Nodes in Action

From the Euro-BioImaging perspective, 17MCM was a significant opportunity for visibility through the active involvement of Euro-BioImaging and its Nodes. As local hosts, the Slovenian Node SiMBION had a strong presence, both in the organizing team and among the speakers. Other Euro-BioImaging Nodes with strong Electron Microscopy expertise were also well represented and shared their expertise, with speakers from the Advanced Light and Electron Microscopy Prague Node and the Multimodal Imaging Brno Node, the UK Node and Dutch CLEM Node.

Beyond the speakers from our Nodes who did a fantastic job highlighting the expertise and support available to researchers through access to the facilities, Euro-BioImaging was also there to answer attendee questions at our booth in the exhibition area and hosted a special session. The Special Session introduced Euro-BioImaging, its services, and opportunities to roughly 100 researchers in attendance. It served as a chance to highlight the complementary strengths of different Nodes, spotlight funding opportunities, and introduce users to:

• The portfolio of imaging technologies and expertise available across the Nodes
• Data services and infrastructure support
• The EVOLVE training program, designed to build capacity in imaging skills across the Nodes.

Reflecting on the session, Johanna Bischof, Head of Bio-Hub Operations, emphasized the value of being present and visible at such events:

“It is so important for Euro-BioImaging to be active at technical and community meetings like 17MCM, to showcase our services and increase our visibility within the regional research community. We are grateful to our colleagues from the SiMBION Node for their warm invitation and excellent organization, which allowed us to connect with many scientists eager to explore imaging opportunities.”

For many researchers - especially from emerging microscopy groups and from the South-East European area - this exposure was a chance to learn how to plug in to a supportive European infrastructure for imaging.

A Pan-Regional Networking Opportunity

Thanks to its location and the involvement of the European Microscopy Society and a range of national microscopy societies in the organisation, 17MCM became a meeting for researchers using advanced microscopy, particularly electron microscopy, not only from Slovenia but from Croatia, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Türkiye, Czechia, and several other countries across central and eastern Europe and the Balkans. The meeting thereby represented an important opportunity for Euro-BioImaging to strengthen its visibility with researchers in this area, an important goal under the EVOLVE project, to widen the uptake of Euro-BioImaging opportunities.

Young scientists, in particular, found multiple avenues to meet more established groups, exchange ideas, and seek mentorship. For many, it was the first time interacting directly with Node representatives and Euro-BioImaging Hub staff, learning how to access instrumentation, training, or services through Euro-BioImaging.

Spotlight: IMPRESS Session on Interoperable TEM

One of the conference’s standout elements was the IMPRESS special session, titled “Shaping the Future of Interoperable TEM”, held on 11 September. Over two hours and attended by about 80 participants, it blended formal presentations, community dialogue, and strategic brainstorming. The IMPRESS project is a EU-funded project focussed on developing interoperable TEM components, in which Euro-BioImaging participates alongside research infrastructure partners ELI ERIC and CERIC ERIC, to ensure that the developments driven by the technical experts in the project are integrated into Research Infrastructure services and become available to a broader audience of researchers quickly.

Regina Ciancio, the IMPRESS Project Coordinator at AREA Science Park in Italy, opened the session, laying out the project’s mission: to build a standardised, cartridge-based platform for interoperable transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Her remarks framed the session around the need for modularity, shared standards, and community co-development to make TEM more adaptable and broadly accessible.

After technical updates on IMPRESS development tracks, a panel discussion invited direct audience feedback. Through this participatory approach, the session aimed not just to present, but to co-design the future of TEM developments - ensuring that emerging tools respond to evolving experimental needs across the field.

Read more details about the IMPRESS session here.

Reflections and Looking Ahead

The 17MCM meeting delivered more than a snapshot of microscopy research—it advanced the connections and infrastructure that will sustain future breakthroughs. By combining insights into new electron microscopy technology developments, a wide-ranging application overview across material and life sciences, and extensive networking opportunities, it succeeded in deepening the integration of researchers, core facilities, and companies across  Central and South-Eastern Europe.

For Euro-BioImaging, 17MCM offered a platform not only to show what the Infrastructure can do today, but to welcome new users and collaborators into its orbit. The IMPRESS session, meanwhile, may serve as a model for how Research Infrastructure can ensure that technology developments meet the users needs and validation on diverse user projects is an integral part of modern-day instrumentation and workflow development.